Facebook Outs Rule-Breaking Delhi Traffic Cops

Traffic cops are supposed to report members of the public for committing traffic violations, last we heard. In Delhi, it’s the other way round, thanks to a Facebook group the Delhi Traffic Police set up in May to help monitor traffic snarls and get public suggestions on improving the often unpleasant road experience in this city.

It turns out cops too break traffic rules, most notably helmet laws, according to a report published in the Hindustan Times newspaper Thursday. And the traffic police has been forced to penalize some of them, thanks to the visual evidence provided by users, who have uploaded over 2,700 photos to the page over the last three months.

“The netizens have been helpful in coming up with new ideas to man the traffic system efficiently,” Delhi’s special traffic police commissioner Ajay Chadha told India Real Time Thursday. “People are keen to participate with the police in the process.”

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Mr. Chadha confirmed they had received complaints about cops defying traffic laws and the department was taking action against its own inspectors after proper verification, but would not confirm how many complaints had been received against cops and how many had been penalized. But the Facebook page mentions some of the cases they have acted on.

“Police vehicle riders have been prosecuted vide challan numbers, DL1SN 9608 (185477), he was found without helmet near India Gate, DL1SN 4122(185478), he was found without helmet on Ring Road, Punjabi Bagh,” said a recent post from the page administrator.

Many members of the general public have been fined too, thanks to Facebook users. Traffic police have so far handed out fines of up to 1,000 rupees each (about $20) to 646 lawbreakers, according to the Hindustan Times report, for violations that included running a red light, driving without a helmet, and parking vehicles in “no parking” zones.

Bureaucrats who get ferried around in government vehicles had also better watch out from now on. The traffic group’s avid users are training their sights on them too.

“I have seen many govt vehicles parked in ‘no parking zone.’ wrote Satyavrat Sharma on the group’s wall on Thursday. “And next time I’ll send u the detail.”

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India Real Time offers analysis and insights into the broad range of developments in business, markets, the economy, politics, culture, sports, and entertainment that take place every single day in the world’s largest democracy. Regular posts from Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones Newswires reporters around the country provide a unique take on the main stories in the news, shed light on what else mattered and why, and give global readers a snapshot of what Indians have been talking about all week. You can contact the editors at indiarealtime(at)wsj(dot)com.